


For the Love of a Woman

by Just_Ky



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dubious Consent, F/M, Frottage, Hate Sex, M/M, Wall Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 22:41:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6213040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Ky/pseuds/Just_Ky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone was accustomed to seeing them fight through out the halls of the castle. It had become common place. Nobody knew how far they would take it, how far everything would go between them. Especially since they both made one vital error: they underestimated the girl they were fighting over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Love of a Woman

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to romaine24 for the discussions and the read over. And another thank you to snapesgirl_62 for letting me blackmail her into a beta read. Kisses. Further notes, some of the dialogue is adapted from Deathly Hallows, as well as Order of the Phoenix. This is an older fest fic, written for bewarethesmirk, who wanted James/Severus, hate!sex, and frottage.
> 
> As always, I do not own Harry Potter, I just play in Rowling's sandbox.

****

()()()()()()()()()() FOR THE LOVE OF A WOMAN ()()()()()()()()()()

James Potter’s legs had fallen completely asleep as he crouched on the floor under his Invisibility Cloak. He would have shifted to allow circulation back into his lower limbs, but he knew the ensuing groan would have been heard by the single person that shared the corridor of Hogwarts Castle with him.

Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that Severus Snape was going to be vacating the premises anytime soon, either. He’d been pacing a small stretch of stone floor since Mary MacDonald had retreated into the safety of the Gryffindor common room with a squeak reminiscent of a first year Hufflepuff. James had used that opportunity to slip past her and spy on Snivellus. So far, it had been quite droll. He’d quit watching the Slytherin’s movements some time ago, which was probably a good thing, since the Fat Lady had not, and she was now clutching the edge of her portrait with one hand dramatically pressed to her head. 

Her paint even seemed to have turned slightly green when she opened with an indignant squawk and some unsavory words that would not have been suitable for the lower year students to hear.

Lily Evans stood haloed in the warm light from the common room, and James forgot his desire to remain hidden and gasped out slightly at the sight of her. Never before, in all his years of living in Gryffindor Tower, had he seen her quite like this: her lavender dressing gown was belted loosely around her waist, and her vibrant red hair – disheveled from sleep – hung in tangled waves across her shoulders.

She was intoxicating, and while James should have been happy that Snape’s own quick inhalation of air kept his presence masked, it instead made him scowl.

“What are you doing here, Sev,” she asked. James was happy to see that her green eyes flashed alarmingly even as she climbed through the portrait hole. Her robe opened slightly, allowing James to feast his eyes on the hints of creamy skin that were revealed. Snape, he noticed, looked away modestly, and James mentally called him every derivation of idiot that he could think of. 

“I came to apologize,” the Slytherin announced, “for this afternoon,” he added, as though clarification were really needed.

Lily drew herself up tall, tightening the belt on her robe. Her presence suddenly spoke of dignity and refinement, and James couldn’t help but wonder if she’d learned that move from McGonagall. “Go ahead,” she said curtly.

“I’m sorry.” The apology was plain, but clearly sincere, and after all these years James wondered if perhaps _that_ was the right approach.

“I’m not interested.” Invisible to both parties, James smiled at seeing his rival deflated just like he always was by the red-headed witch.

“I’m sorry!” Snape’s desperation was evident the second time, and James reveled in watching the Slytherin’s pride vanish.

“Save your breath. I only came out here because Mary told me that you were threatening to sleep here.”

“I was.” The admission was so quiet that James barely caught it. “I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just –”

“Slipped out?” Lily’s voice was as cold as the castle wall that James leaned upon, and he loved it! “It’s too late. I’ve made my excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be!”

If James hadn’t been so thrilled, he might have pitied Snape slightly as Lily ran rough shod over him. The Slytherin merely stood there, struggling for words, while she continued, “You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?” she shook her head sadly. “I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.”

Finally, Snape seemed to find his voice, “No – listen, I didn’t mean –”

“– to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?”

The glare Lily gave him was worse than the most loathing look that James had ever received from her. She crawled back through the portrait hole without even waiting for a response.

Only James was left out in the hall to hear the softly spoken, “because I love you.”

As he watched the other boy tread away, dejected, down the hall, James realized something: in the past he had mocked Severus Snape, he’d ridiculed him, bullied him, and he’d even pitied him. Until that moment, he had never _hated_ him.

Tearing off the Invisibility Cloak, he ran after the Slytherin. He didn’t even bother to draw his wand, instead his simply shoved Snape hard in the back, knocking him to the floor. “Leave Lily alone,” he snarled, almost surprised at the animosity and venom in his voice.

Severus rolled, reaching for his wand at the same time, but James easily kicked it out of his hand. Fear flashed momentarily in Snape’s eyes before it was masked behind his normal façade. He stood, quickly placing his back to the nearest wall. Absently, James noticed that dueling multiple opponents had taught him habits, but tonight he was only fighting one.

“Potter,” he sneered slightly, “I see you are still stalking Evans.”

“Looks who’s talking, Snape. You’re in Gryffindor territory in the middle of the night.” James grabbed the front of Severus’s robes in his fists and slammed him back into the wall. “I said, _leave her alone_!” 

The sneer grew, and Snape gave a weak chuckle. “I might be near your dorms, but that doesn’t mean I’m not where I’m not wanted, Potter. How do you think I know where the entrance to Gryffindor Tower is if Lily didn’t tell me?”

James smiled as he leaned toward the Slytherin. He spoke softly, his words whispering over Snape’s pallid skin. “From what I heard, she didn’t want you anywhere near her.”

Snape flinched, causing them to bump noses. “Then, for once, Potter, we have something in common.” Severus grinned, but it wasn’t a smile of mirth. “I do believe I heard her say something about how she’d rather go out with the Giant Squid than with you. Wasn’t that what she said? That you were an arrogant, bullying toerag.”

James clenched his fists tighter into Snape’s robes. “Shut up,” he muttered, “just shut up.”

“Lily could forgive me for this transgression; she’s forgiven me much before. But you will always be an arrogant arse.”

“I think you are _both_ being arrogant arses at the moment.”

Simultaneously, the two boys turned to look down the hall at where the voice had come from. James could feel Snape’s cheek, so close to his, but not quite touching, and he felt the increase in his breathing as Lily stepped from the shadows.

Lily addressed James first. “Remus was worried that you might get in another fight today. He told me that you had come out here.” She shook her head sadly, as though greatly disappointed. “I expected this from you, James, but not from you, Sev.”

James knew that he was looking at her confused, but he didn’t want to turn his head to see if the Slytherin’s expression matched his own. He could feel the sweat gathering in his palms where they clenching the fabric of Snape’s robes.

“You are fighting over me as though I were a favored toy – as though either of you would have any notion about what I would want.” 

“Lily, I’m –”

“Please, Severus, I’ve heard enough of you apologizing today. I cannot stomach anymore.” She gave a sad smile. “This is just truly the perfect end for what has been a wonderfully horrific day. So, I’m the one who’s sorry, boys, because I’m not going to let it end with the _two of you_ deciding who I’m going to be with.” Pulling her wand from the deep pockets of her robes, she flicked it toward them. “ _Basiatis,_ ” she intoned, before turning and walking away.

Nothing appeared to happen, and James let out a sigh of relief. That was until he turned and saw the look of horror on Snape’s face. 

“What did she do?” Even as he asked, James began to feel _something_ change, a strange feeling that began to burn and grow low in his stomach.

“How’s your Latin, Potter,” was all Severus said in response. Some of the shock had drained from his face, to be replaced be a wry sort of amusement.

“My Latin,” James asked, again confused. He let go of Snape’s robe with one hand, pulling off his glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he struggled to remember the lessons from so many years ago. Most Purebloods studied Latin before school, but since it was mainly used in Magical Theory and Spellcraft, James hadn’t studied the language intensely since then.

Severus’s voice sounded hot and loud in his ear, and it send chills down his back. “ _Basio, basiare_ , a verb, meaning to kiss.” 

He pulled away from the Slytherin as though scorched, and his glasses clattered to the floor from fingers suddenly numb. “No,” he protested, “she wouldn’t.”

James’s vision was narrowed to only the Slytherin’s thin, hard lips as they smirked at him. They moved, forming the words, “I always said that she should have been in Slytherin.”

Anger rushed through him. “Haven’t you insulted her enough in one day?” He shoved Snape back against the wall as the heat from his temper clouded his head. He was only dimly aware of the long, thin fingers that clasped his arms so that he couldn’t pull away again, or the lean body that pressed against his own.

Dark eyes bore into his. “Salazar, Potter, _that_ was a compliment.” Snape really did seem amused now, and the smirk that marred his lips had almost become a smile, but James only had a fraction of a second to notice it before those lips were on his own, and they were _kissing_ him!

He should have been disgusted. He should have been hexing Snivellus’s bollocks off. He should _not_ have been kissing him back, and sighing as he felt the Slytherin’s mouth open and his tongue flick out teasingly to caress his lip. 

He pulled away, dropping his head to Snape’s shoulder. “Love spells are illegal. Lily wouldn’t do that.”

Severus was definitely laughing now. “You really are thick, Potter,” he whispered. “Our Evans isn’t the golden Gryffindor you think, and this isn’t a love spell.” James moaned as Severus licked up along his jaw to his ear. “Trust me; I loathe you as much as I always have.” 

James hated that Severus was finding humor in this, he hated that his lips felt so good on him, and he hated even more that he was just allowing it. Slowly, the anger in him began to burn brighter than the need that he felt for the Slytherin’s lips on his skin, and he pushed himself away from Severus. His skin was flushed, from both the passion he’d been feeling and the heat of his temper.

“This is all your bloody fault, Snape.”

Shock registered across Snape’s dark eyes, whether from the fact that James was fighting the spell or from his statement, he was uncertain. “My fault? Tell me how you figure that one, Potter? Your logic astounds me. Did I tell you to eavesdrop on Lily and me and make an arse out of yourself yet again? How the bloody hell is this my fault?” 

Severus punctuated each of his comments by pushing James against the chest. James, who had been walking steadily backwards soon found his own back against a wall. He swallowed hard at his predicament, and noticed the Slytherin’s eyes move to his throat to watch it bob as he did.

James grabbed him, kissing him hard. Their teeth clashed, and he tasted the coppery tang of blood as he plundered Snape’s mouth. With a moan, he deepened the kiss, his hands sliding down to grasp Snape’s hips in a bruising grip. 

The dark-haired boy forcibly pulled his mouth away, grinning wickedly as he lowered his head to suck along James’s throat.

“If you hadn’t started this stupid argument, then Lily wouldn’t have hexed us,” James said breathlessly.

The gentle suckling turned into a vicious bite and James bucked his hips as he cried out silently. He felt Severus’s lips curl up in a smile against his collarbone. 

Severus’s voice – James marveled at how his tone could be so cold when his breathe was so hot – whispered in his ear, “I didn’t start it, Potter. You did. It’s always you. You’re a bully. An arrogant arse and a bully.” Snape’s long hand moved up James sides, his nails digging in just slightly causing him to shiver. “And here I thought it was because you just liked to fight, but I was wrong, wasn’t I? If that was the case you would have picked your fights differently.” Teeth nipped at his earlobe, and James moaned, clutching harder at Severus’s robes, trying to pull him closer. “You do like to fight, but you like the chance that you might lose, that you might get hurt, don’t you, Potter? That’s why you like Lily. Evans is the only girl that challenges you, isn’t she? You _like_ the fact that she walks all over you.”

James tilted his head back and it made a resounding _thunk_ as it hit the stone wall. “Oh, Merlin,” he cursed softly, “Bloody hell, I….” He trailed off, uncertain of what he was trying to say. Finally, he met Severus’s coal black eyes and said the one word that he never thought he would say to the Slytherin.

“ _Please_ ,” he whispered, though he didn’t know what he was asking for.

Severus, apparently, did though. He grabbed James’s wrists, which were holding tightly to his hips – holding him still – and he slammed them into the wall. James groaned as he felt the scrape on his knuckles; he knew that his blood probably marred the grey stone. His gasp, though, was quickly swallowed as Snape covered his mouth with his, sucking and biting at his lips. This was not a kiss of affection, or even friendship, this was punishment for everything that James had ever said and done to Severus in the past: every mean word, every cruel curse was paid back by the tight grip of his fingers, the stroke of his tongue, and the bite of his teeth.

Moaning deep in his throat, James canted his hips forward, rubbing his hardened erection against the thigh that Severus used to pin him. Desperately, he sought friction, and was shocked when Snape shifted moving his own hardened shaft against him as well. Somehow, he hadn’t thought that the Slytherin would be enjoying this as much as he, and he also didn’t think this knowledge would be pleasurable to him. 

It frightened him that it was.

His movements became more frantic, and Severus’s became more cruel. His throat was marked by sharp teeth and he begged for more; the skin on his wrist bled from Snape’s nails and he pleaded, thrusting wildly against the lithe body that held him fast. When Severus whispered in his ear, “Potter, you prat, I fucking hate you,” he came with a silent shout.

As he gathered his senses back to himself, he realized that the Slytherin rested limply against him, his sweaty forehead leaning on his shoulder. He wondered if that was the only thing holding him against the wall.

“This changes nothing, Severus,” he said softly.

Snape had the audacity to laugh. “Of course not, Potter.” He pushed himself away, and walked the few feet to retrieve his wand. James was pleased to see that he seemed shaky. 

He paused after picking his wand off the floor, and he met James’s eyes for a moment. The Gryffindor wondered what he wanted to say, but then Snape walked away. James slid down to the floor. 

Severus turned back in a swirl of cloak, a smirk on his face. “Good-night, Lily,” he said, before sauntering off down the hall. 

“Good-night, Sev.”

James looked up, and he knew that he wore a mask of horror as he stared at the vision in lavender that was stepping out from behind a suit of armor. He quickly looked away again; pulling his knees up, he rested his elbows on them and hid his face in his palms. He ignored the dried blood on his arms and the pounding on his throat that indicated that bruises were already forming. The only thing he could focus on was the soft patter of footsteps as Lily walked across the hall and then stopped next to him. From the corner of his eyes he could see that she held his glasses out to him. When he ignored her, she laid them softly on the floor next to him.

Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer and asked quietly, “Did the two of you plan this?”

“What?” he was glad that there was sincere shock in her voice. “No!”

“Then, how did he know – ”

“ – that I was there?” Lily finished the question that James had been about to ask. She knelt down by his side. He didn’t bother turning to her, he simply stared numbly through his hands at the floor. “Because Sev has always been smarter than you give him credit for, James. He knew that I would never have left the two of you alone, since you might have hurt each other.”

“Could you remove the curse?”

“I already did. Some time ago, actually.”

James felt sick to his stomach, knowing that Lily spoke the truth. “Then why…” he couldn’t finish the sentence. Swallowing his last word, he went back to studying the patterns on the stone floor.

“Did you do what you did?”

He nodded glumly.

“When you combine free will and magic, it does strange things to people, Potter,” Lily said, and there was a trace of humor in her voice. “It can make Severus call his best friend a Mudblood, and it can make you snog your worst enemy.” James felt a kiss on the top of his head, and he finally lowered his hands to look at the girl next to him. She wore a soft hint of a smile. “It might even make me go out with you some day.”

James started to speak, but she covered his mouth with a finger. “I said _might_ ; don’t press it, Potter.” He gave a hint of a shrug, as though signifying that he had to try. Laughing, she stood. “Get some sleep, James, everything will look different in the morning,” she suggested as she began to walk away.

“Lily,” he called after her. When she stopped, he hesitated, uncertain what to say until she was facing him. Then he just smiled and said simply, “Sweet dreams.”

The wink she gave him would haunt his dreams for months. “Oh, those are certain, Potter.” She was laughing as she walked away.


End file.
